As many of you know, the site is hosted on my company's server and I've been able to keep it there for over four years at no cost to myself. As many of you also may know I am a hardware guy and not a software/web site programmer. This being said, the AZH site is in dire need of some upgrades and maintenance that I cannot do myself. I have chosen to have one of our employees do the upgrades for us in his own time which I must pay him for. I would love to run this through the company but since this is a personal site, I cannot. That being said, I am going to ask for something that I have wished not to have to do but I must at this time. I am going to openly ask for your donations to help me pay for the programming updates and security maintenance that we desperately need done to the site. Amongst which will include some type of anti-spammer update as well. I am not asking for much but just a small donation if possible to help me pay for my programmer's time to fix the site up for us. I full well expect that he can have us up and going securely in the next three to four weeks. If you would like to help me with this endeavor, you can send Paypal to gtgsstuff(at)gmail.com . If you are uncomfortable with Paypal or wish to donate in some other way, then you can email me or PM me through the site for other means. Any funds not spent on the upgrade will be put away for future development, get togethers and I will have a lottery type give away for all those that donated. the prize being a gift certificate to the outdoor related store/outlet/site of the winner's choice. I appreciate your effort in your use and additions to the site and thank you all for your time.

I'll also donate an AZH T-Shirt to go to the winner drawn from those contributing in the size requested by the winner:

GTG to do the drawing for the winner once he's determined that all donations are in, or October 1, 2007, whichever occurs first.

Neither GTG or Hooli is eligible to win this T-Shirt. _________________John Richardson and Richie Rich, El Perro de Playero
http://members.tripod.com/~evenstar/index.htmlhttp://www.arizonahikers.com
When the Man waked up he said, "What is Wild Dog doing here?" And the Woman said, "His name is not Wild Dog anymore, but the First Friend, because he will be our friend for always and always and always. Take him with you when you go hunting."
--Rudyard Kipling, from Just So Stories, 1902

I think it's a great idea. You should consider doing a raffle like 14ers.com did. Pretty good revenue generator to cover these kinds of expenses that are ongoing.

Will the T-Shirt be the upgraded version with Hooli's picture on the back? (Sure to be a collectors item!)

That can be arranged _________________John Richardson and Richie Rich, El Perro de Playero
http://members.tripod.com/~evenstar/index.htmlhttp://www.arizonahikers.com
When the Man waked up he said, "What is Wild Dog doing here?" And the Woman said, "His name is not Wild Dog anymore, but the First Friend, because he will be our friend for always and always and always. Take him with you when you go hunting."
--Rudyard Kipling, from Just So Stories, 1902

You should consider doing a raffle like 14ers.com did. Pretty good revenue generator to cover these kinds of expenses that are ongoing.

The way 14ers handled it was to collect all donations in one giant "pot". Some fraction of it (1/4, 1/3)? of it went to the website donations to cover costs like this, while the rest went towards the value of an REI giftcard for the winners (top 3 - but they have a lot more members). 1/4-1/3 doesn't sound like much, but the reasoning is that more people would probably donate if they knew they could have a chance at a big cash-in at REI. Seems to have worked.

You should consider doing a raffle like 14ers.com did. Pretty good revenue generator to cover these kinds of expenses that are ongoing.

The way 14ers handled it was to collect all donations in one giant "pot". Some fraction of it (1/4, 1/3)? of it went to the website donations to cover costs like this, while the rest went towards the value of an REI giftcard for the winners (top 3 - but they have a lot more members). 1/4-1/3 doesn't sound like much, but the reasoning is that more people would probably donate if they knew they could have a chance at a big cash-in at REI. Seems to have worked.

That does sound like a good idea except that I'd let the winner pick their own place for the gift card. If the general consencus likes that idea, I'll do it.

_________________"Surely all God's people, however serious or savage, great or small, like to play. Whales and elephants, dancing, humming gnats, and invisibly small mischievous microbes - all are warm with divine radium and must have lots of fun in them." John Muir

Todd is on his way to his Mom's house in Alabama. Rest assured all recieved donations are still in paypal where you placed them he is not skipping the country! I am sure that as soon as he gets internet access again he will answer your questions to the best of his ability Roger._________________~~~Diane~~~